“She’s fine,” he said dismissively. “I was actually wondering...”
He almost asked the question, but at that moment he glanced down and made the extreme mistake of looking into her eyes. The words trailed off and he found himself momentarily speechless, just as he’d been the first time they’d met. The newfound confidence melted clean away, and he found himself fidgeting like a boy on the playground—trying to talk to a girl.
Get it the fuck together! You go out with women all the time!
A few seconds went by, then a few seconds after that. Finally, when his humiliation could drag on no further, he took a deep breath and just lay it all out on the table.
“They’re playing a movie about a giant gorilla and an army of colorblind aliens at a theater downtown. Naturally...I think we should go.”
Whatever Lacy had been expecting him to say, it certainly wasn’t that. She lowered the cup in surprise, staring at him like there had to be some further explanation. When he didn’t say anything, she shook her head in amazement—trying hard not to grin.
“You get that I’m at work, right?”
“Yeah, but you’re the boss.” He flashed her a coaxing smile, finding it easier to breathe now that the request was out there in the open. “Maybe the boss can take off a few hours to see a movie with her friend?”
She threw back her head with a laugh.
“Is that what we are now? Friends?”
A fair point. But Logan surrendered not an inch of ground.
“What would you call us?”
It looked like she had several sarcastic things she was ready to say, but she kept them to herself. In the end, she merely glanced down at her coffee—growing unexpectedly quiet.
“...an unlikely combination.”
It was Logan’s turn to speak, but he didn’t. He kept the ball squarely in her court, forcing her to give him a straight answer either way. Finally, when it became clear he wasn’t going to budge, she threw up her hands in exasperation.
“Well if it’s a movie about gorillas and colorblind aliens, how could I resist?”
“That’s the spirit!” He abandoned the coffees altogether and caught her by the wrist, pulling her excitedly out into the sunshine. “Come on, I already bought tickets.”
Chapter 19
If Logan had been hoping to act more his age, he definitely undershot it by a little. He and Lacy paraded down the street like a couple of giggling teenagers. Laughing at jokes that weren’t funny. Casting each other secret sideways glances from the corners of their eyes. Loudly betting on who could eat the most popcorn—both swearing it was themselves.
“Perhaps you don’t understand this, so let me speak slowly and make it clear.” Logan took her by the shoulders, bending down to look in her eyes. “You’re fucking tiny. Like a little bird. If I threw you in the water—you’d probably float. No way could you eat more popcorn than me.”
She wrenched herself free, laughing out loud as the movie attendants watched with secret, knowing smiles. They were standing in front of the theater’s concession stand—too amped up by their ongoing competition to actually buy any snacks.
“Popcorn is about determination, not size!” she insisted, stretching subconsciously up on her toes to bring them closer to the same height. “It’s a task of charisma. Are you saying that you have more charisma than me?”
“Please,” Logan scoffed, “I could beat you at charisma in my sleep—”
“Dylan!”
Lacy turned around, gazing curiously at the man walking towards them. A second later, Logan remembered that was his new name, and he hurried to turn around too.
“Hey—thank goodness you’re here!” The man grabbed his hand for a quick shake, before flashing a polite smile at Lacy. “We’re having a problem with one of the mounts you installed for the projectors—I think the lever is jammed. Could you take a look at it?”
Logan froze dead still, as the smile faded slowly from his face. A second later, he felt Lacy watching and was quick to recover. “Oh...the lever?” He stalled, his mind racing for a simple escape. “You know, I don’t really have any of my tools with me—”
“That’s okay!” The man clapped him on the shoulder, steering both him and Lacy deliberately towards a door leading into the back. “We have everything you could need.”
The room seemed to get smaller the closer they got to the door. The walls were closing in, and there was nothing Logan could do to stop them.